Research Paper on Caffeine Intake and Its Impact on Body Functioning

Abstract

Various research has been conducted to test how intake of caffeine affects the normal functioning of the human body and how individuals under the influence of the substance react to specific changes in their immediate environment; therefore, this particular study aims to study how caffeine alters the body function by stimulating the brain and the coordination of systems to help individuals stay active by increasing both mental and physical performance through preventing the possibility of tiredness. Besides this, caffeine helps to boost mood and metabolism. This is the biological reason people get extremely addicted to the beverage, making it almost impossible to stop its use. “Psych stimulant effects of ingestion of caffeine mainly include improvement in motor activation and reinforcing effects.”( Preedy, V.R. ed., 2012, 1355 ) Therefore, it is usually placed under the broad category of diuretics and psychoactive substances.

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Besides its beneficial uses, various researches have shown that excessive consumption of caffeine can pose adverse side effects. High consumption of caffeine has not been proven to justifiable harmful to the overall health of those consuming it. The research conducted in this paper is to articulate the effects of consumption of caffeine on the rate of reaction of the individual’s ability to spot a change in the color of the screen. However, the study is not level to all participants since evidence that the gene of an individual is a determinant of tolerance to the substance since some people are observed to consume a higher concentration of caffeine without showing adverse effects on their average body functioning.

Introduction

Many people have given testimonies of their coffee addiction, either by relying on a morning cup to kick off a day or an evening jolt to help them relax after a long day. According to a report by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), caffeine is among the most used beverage in the world (Food and Drug Administration, 2018). Apart from keeping awake, alert, and enhancing human performance, caffeine is also a stimulant that affects the bodies of individuals in a variety of ways. Its role as stimuli stipulates that caffeine lacks nutritional value on the body.

In addition, caffeine (1, 3, 7-trimethylxanthine) is tasteless, making it extremely hard to detect even when present in foods, drinks, or even in medication. However, all coffee lovers should have knowledge about the effects associated with the consumption of a large amount of coffee at once. Since it is a central nervous stimulus, caffeine improves performance by linking the central and peripheral mechanisms. At the start of the experiment, it is assumed that the mass of coffee and the final reaction time of individuals involved in the research are inversely proportional. However, if time and the weight of coffee are used as variables, the null hypothesis is that the brand or type of coffee used in the experiment will not alter the results of the reaction time but only the mass of the coffee.

Materials and Methods

The Participants

The participants of the study were ten people, of which 5 were males and the other remaining five females ages between 20-50.

Reaction Time Study

During the study, all the participants were asked to use a similar quick reaction test in which the participants were asked to start and stop when the customized color appears, which is then automatically recorded in seconds.

Results

In sheet1, all the data collected with the graph and best line fit, and the other chart proves there is a proportional relationship between the coffee mass and the final reaction time the increase of the coffee amount decreases the ultimate reaction time graph "coffee mass Vs. final reaction time."

In Sheet2, we used the F test 2 sample to the variance values for the two variables because they r not equal we used the T-test for unequal variance in Sheet3 Sheet3/ shows the two critical two value is smaller than the T stats which is rejecting our null hypotheses.

Analysis and Discussion

It is clear that in the findings of our study, the consumption of caffeine increases the reaction time that the participants took before noticing the change in color, and as the amount of caffeine taken by each participant increased, the reaction time also increased. Therefore in this study, the participants were more active and noticed the changes very quickly under the influence of caffeine. In theory, caffeine is responsible for improving the dynamics of the brain, reaching latency faster. The shorter the latencies, the more quickly information is likely to be processed by the brain. In circumstances where there is no intake of caffeine, the latency is negatively related to the mental functioning of the participants. This means that if the test was carried out before the participants took caffeine into their system, their response to the change in color would be found to be very slow.

“If the latencies are short, the cognitive performance will be high"(Independent, 2010). For this reason, the results in the graph showing the amount of coffee over reaction exhibited a relationship in which the two variables observed are directly proportional. “Caffeine is most of the time describes as having the ability to enhance visual vigilance and mental awareness” (Preedy, V.R. ed., 2012 1355). People under its influence are able to maintain extended periods of time ingestion of caffeine while showing dose-dependent improvement in the accuracy of doing tasks.

In the second graph, the coffee mass and reaction are in an inverse relationship with one another. From these results, it is correct to conclude that the amount of coffee left reduced. This happens because the concentration of caffeine rises in the bloodstream rises between maybe 15 and 45 minutes. However, for the coffee in the blood to reach its halve-life, a relative amount of time of about 5 or 6 hours should pass. However, various factors are responsible for affecting the rate at which coffee in the blood is reduced by half its original amount. For instance, “in expectant mothers, the half-life can extend up to 18 hours because unborn babies metabolize caffeine at a much slower rate” (Independent, 2010). In addition, those won pills delay the process by 11 hours, and for those who smoke, the value is significantly reduced by three. In general, the second graph showed the reaction time as the coffee became metabolized in the body over time. Our findings in the study, therefore, stipulate that caffeine, when used, improves reaction time in participants under investigation.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the ingestion of each grams caffeine by the participant reduced the time they took to note the color change in the test since in theory caffeine is similar to adenosines which are responsible for causing sleep by forming an unstable complex with the receptor cells in order to calm the nervous system. Unlike adenosines, caffeine binds with the receptor cells but does not have dynamic effects on the nervous system, delaying the fatigue will, on the other hand, increase attentiveness and argue to stay attentive. Therefore, this is the reason the participants become more concentrated on the change in color, hence reducing the reaction time. The results from the study, accordingly confirm that caffeine intake affects the reaction time of humans and conversantly improves the response of the brain to external stimuli.

References

Food and Drug Administration. 2018, December 12. Spilling the Beans: How Much Caffeine is Too Much? [Online] Available at: < https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/spilling-beans-how-much-caffeine-too-much

Independent, 2016. Under the Microscope: How does caffeine work?. [Online] Available at: < https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/under-the-microscope-how-does-caffeine-work-1993056.html

Preedy, V.R. ed., 2012. Tea in health and disease prevention. Academic Press.